February 18, 2021

 We had commonwealth today, and I waited until this morning to mix up Playdough for the little ones.  But I got up about 7:20 and got it done.  I fed the kids breakfast, ate my own breakfast, and cleaned up the house a bit until everyone got here (we had class here today).  

After opening exercises, we broke into book discussion groups, because some read Heidi and others read Hatchet.  When the littles started getting restless, I started the playdough activity with them.  They were entertained.  After all, who doesn't LOVE playdough?!  

Peyton, Faith, and Liberty went to Sawyer's house to play.  Jared and Jordan stayed here to hang out with Braden and David.  Jordan and Braden shot the pellet gun out back for a few minutes until they decided it was too cold and came back in.  Jared and David worked on their improv.  

A Sheriff's Deputy died today.  I'll add more details later once the family has had a chance to process things before the whole world knows (not that anyone reads my blog, but just in case).  Jared was pretty worked up about it.  

I mixed up some chili seasoning and made chili.  I was supposed to make chicken and black bean chili, but I forgot that I wasn't making regular chili, so I thawed ground beef instead of chicken.  So regular chili it is.  Maybe I'll make chicken and black bean chili tomorrow.  I also made some cornbread that is supposed to roll over into leftovers to use for a salad and a casserole in the coming days.  We'll see how much of it my family leaves tonight.  

Jared took Jared and David to improv, and Braden and Jordan to jiujitsu.  I stayed home to cook. 

August 13, 2020

 Jared is supposed to be off today, but he has to teach driving.  No OT pay though, he's getting comp time.  It's something, I guess.  

Learned a new word today!  Don't make fun of me if you already know it. 

Portmanteau /port-man-tow/ n / 

    1.  A large trunk or suitcase, typically made of stiff leather and opening in two equal parts (I may actually have heard this one before.  

    2.  A word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two other words, for example, motel (from motor and hotel), brunch (from breakfast and lunch), or podcast (from iPod and broadcast).  

    Definition from Google

Made the kids some breakfast.  B12 took care of the animals and watering the garden.  

Transcribed reports while B12 worked on math (we discussed finding the area of a trapezoid) and D15 worked on his math/Spanish/guitar/whatever else he's learning these days (we discussed finding the volume of a cylinder).  

Seasoned chicken and started it in the slow cooker while D15 came into the kitchen to discuss The Giver/Gathering Blue/The Messenger by Lois Lowry.  

Transcribed more reports and read from an issue of Real Simple Magazine.  (That's where I got my new word.)  P7 worked on Khan Academy Kids on my phone.  B12 did his Spanish lesson.  

Jared came home for lunch.  And left again.

Completed a reading lesson with P7, and a lesson with J4 (the letter R).  

Tutored B12 on his trumpet.  He really wants to play Happy Birthday for P7's birthday next month.  (The thought crossed my mind of a homeschoolers marching band.  I bet we could smoke 'em at competition!)  

D15 cleaned the kitchen, P7 and B12 took care of clutter patrol, I worked on laundry.  I listened to more of the TJEd conference while I was in my room folding laundry.  Then Jared came home and I turned it off.  When I did, I heard songs from Hamilton playing from the living room.  The king's song comes on and suddenly I can hear all the kids singing at the top of their voices and dancing in the living room.  I should really get a video of this, but they'll be done by the time I get my phone and get to them.  

Transcription again.  Jared and D15 went for some errands.  D15 has Improv class tonight.  

July 26, Sunday

2:00 - Busy day for a Sunday.  Kids fed themselves breakfast (freezer waffles) while I transcribed some reports. 

Washed, dried, folded laundry.  (Hubby and kids will put it away before bed.  I'll be folding more as it comes out of the dryer for most of the day.) 

Had leftover pizza for lunch.  Hubby and I were out too late to fix dinner yesterday, so we got pizza.  We were weedwacking and mopping the townhouse and replacing the air fresheners, hoping someone will buy it soon.  The kids love when we get pizza.   

Peeled, cut, vacuum-sealed, and froze some avocados.  I have way too many of them from Bountiful Baskets.  Still need to figure out what to do with all the pablanos and limes.  Already made lime bars and a lime bundt cake recently. 

Now I'm going to gather the kids to read from the Friend.  :) 

July 20, 2020, Monday

9:19
The bus dropped off breakfast/lunch bags for the kids this morning.  It had Jell-O in it.  J4 has never tried Jell-O.  Well, I wanted him to try it.  He didn't want to.  I finally convinced him.  I got some on the spoon and moved it toward his face.  He retreats, screaming, "It's MOVING!"  He did eventually try it.  Almost threw up.  Fail.  Seriously, what kid doesn't like Jell-O?!  I've got two! 

Putting pork in the slow cooker for dinner tonight. 

10:00
Had my breakfast.  Made my bed.  Checked the three rooms I have previously organized to ensure they're still in order.  Hopefully I get to the kitchen today.  Now time to do a reading lesson with J4.

10:30
Finished a reading lesson with J4.  He was super excited to read his first book!  (It only had four words.)  Then he wanted to do some math, so we practiced writing "5" and "five" and counting a picture of five pigs in a marching band (from an old workbook someone gave us). 

Helped D15 with his lowest common multiples. 

Waiting for P7 to finish clearing the table and B12 to clean the kitchen so I can do some things with them.  I have to stay on P7 like crazy to get her to complete a task.

2:00
Created the first page of my bullet journal.  Read with P7.  Worked on logging my books into my Libib account.  Made, served, and ate lunch.  It's about to storm.  Time to do math with P7.

2:32
P7 was so thrilled with herself after her math lesson, she decided to teach it to J4. 

I loaded and started the bread machine, as well as the washer and dryer. 

It's storming.  I love a summer storm.  They never last long enough.

9:40
Organized about half of the kitchen.  Assisted P7, B12, and D15 through their Zoom rehearsal for "The Big One-Oh," a Zoomsical Musical Extravaganza!  It's going to be cute.  Made corn on the cob and pico (with corn chips) for dinner.  Shred the pork.  Jared got home and added the barbecue.  We all ate.  P7 cleared the table.  B12 cleaned the kitchen.  I did some transcriptions.  I'm going to check out my bullet journal, try some more doodles from Pinterest, and go to bed. 

July 19, Sunday

Wow... a week has gone by!  I get all off routine when Jared is off work.

We took the kids to The Beach at Farmington Lake on Monday morning.  I'll try to remember to post some pics in here.  Jared is on a long work week because he's switching his schedule.  He had to work Wednesday through Saturday last week and Sunday through Wednesday this week, so 8 days straight.

I've been working on organization lately.  Three rooms done (craft room, pantry, and laundry room)... too many to go.  Kitchen is next.

I finally got two zucchini out of my garden.  It's been slow going.  I think I planted late, and I started from seeds rather than starts, so it's pretty slow.

We're celebrating Tonya's birthday at Jared's parents house tonight.  I'm bringing a fruit tray and dip.  I also made a sugar scrub for a gift and I'm baking a loaf of bread to present with orange butter.

Jared did a history lesson with the kids on Friday about the Japanese Empire, so I made Japanese food for dinner last night... beef teriyaki, sesame broccoli, and sticky rice.  Actually it was pretty good.  I'll probably add that to my list of regulars.

Even on a Sunday, I've completed several transcriptions. 

We weren't invited to church today, as they're are just at the beginning of the alphabet.  But they want B12 to go to pass the sacrament.  He'll be picked up at 3:00, so I better help him get ready. 

Tonya and Tim were cooking at Jared's parents' place.  They had biscuits and gravy.  The kids played with their cousins, ended up so dirty!  I held Baby D for a while... she's still so little!  I love it, but I'm glad to be done.  J4 is out of diapers and we're moving on :) 

July 12, 2020 (Sunday)

Jared and I got up and made breakfast burritos for the kiddos.  I did some laundry and put some frozen bread dough in the loaf pans to rise for dinner tonight.  We're going to his parents.  His mom is making spaghetti.  I sorted some things on my desk and checked some of B12's math work.  We need to work on the area of triangles.

Then we got dressed and had sacrament meeting (at home, due to COVID).  We read about Korihor in the Book of Alma.

Afterward, Jared got ready to go to pick up some more baby things from more work friends for Julia's friend.  All of the kids wanted to go with him.  And darn it if I didn't have to stay home so I that I can make sure the bread gets in the oven when it's done rising.  :)  So the house all to myself for a bit.  I vegged.

He got home to switch some things out, then left again.  P7 decided to stay home with me.  I put wet laundry in the dryer and did a little tidying. 

Dinner at his mom's was interesting... Tim made zoodles (spiralized zucchini) for the spaghetti rather than regular spaghetti noodles.  Getting my littles to eat that was definitely a fail. 

July 11, 2020

Yesterday was my anniversary.  We've been married 16 years.  I volunteered at the Bountiful Baskets site, visited Strings and Things to get D15's guitar string fixed and purchase a case for his guitar, then returned home.  I did a transcription, but after that I was just tired from being out in the heat volunteering.  (It was 100 degrees here today.)  I took a shower and then sat and watched TV for a bit.  Jared and I plan to go out to dinner tonight, so D15 is making dinner for the kids.  He's making pork chops and macaroni and cheese.

Jared called and said he'd be late coming home due to a late arrest.  No big deal since he took today off and we can stay out a bit later.  I still don't like being out too late because I don't like the kiddos being home alone when it's dark.  We went to Applebees.  Jared had some gift cards from his birthday.  It was nice to get out a bit.  It's nice having a 15-year-old at home to watch the littles.  :)  (Though they were ALL still up when we got home at 10:30 pm!)  After dinner we went to visit one of Jared's work friends to pick up some kid stuff for one of Julia's friends who got a very sudden opportunity to adopt. 

Jared took today off from work.  We slept late, then made pancakes, bacon, and eggs for breakfast.  Homemade pico on the eggs makes it special! 

He took the trash to the dump, picked up some more stuff for Julia's friend, did some grocery shopping, and checked on my freeze-dried oranges at his dad's house.  Oranges are still juicy, so Dad's gonna give them some more time.  When he got home, he worked on some projects outside.

I did laundry, vacuumed the living room, a few other chores, and fixed dinner.  We had Reuben Strambolis https://www.plantoeat.com/recipes/24620489/35240551 and Vanilla Pecan Carrots https://www.plantoeat.com/recipes/17624370/35241270. 

After dinner, we took the kids to the Dairy Queen drive-through :)